Medium Exchange
by Factory Knot
Summary: When June's friend is taken advantage of by a fake psychic, Neal offers to help. He doesn't anticipate this will involve Mozzie becoming a fake psychic, hiding his investigation from Peter and that the case will drag up things from Neal's past that he would rather have left there.
1. Chapter 1

_Everything here (except the mistakes) belongs to Jeff Eastin and USA Network. This is written for love of the White Collar world. _

**White Collar – Medium Exchange –Chapter 1**

Neal had just got in from a long work day in the FBI offices with Peter and was just about to haul himself up the stairs to bed when he heard the front door open and the voices of his landlady June and her granddaughter Cindy so he waited to greet them.

"Don't let that horrible woman upset you Grandma" Cindy was saying as they came into the room. June was wiping at her eyes, clearly upset.

"June, what's wrong?" Neal asked concerned coming over, taking June's arm and steering her to the sofa.

"Oh Neal dear, it's nothing. I just let someone get to me, I should know better at my age" she told him, clearly choked up still. Neal looked to Cindy for explanation.

"Grandma's friend has been seeing this psychic and paying her thousands of pounds, so Grandma wanted to go and confront her, but she knew things about us, she said things about Grandpa." Cindy told Neal wide eyed.

Grandma raised a hand to quiet Cindy down

"I know a scam when I see one." She told Neal "It's just that what she said…" June trailed off but Neal knew what she meant.

"It hit a little close to home?" he asked gently. June nodded and took a deep breath.

"Maybe she really is psychic" Cindy said earnestly.

Neal and June smiled at one another. Cindy was a sweet girl but unlike them she was incredibly naïve sometimes, despite having had June and Byron as her grandparents. Neal thought that was probably a compliment to Cindy's upbringing that June and her daughter had managed to keep her so protected from the world.

"Ooh I really want to get this woman. Not only because she is fleecing a friend but because she got to me. She's good" June admitted to Neal.

"Will you let me help?" Neal asked.

June smiled warmly at Neal. She hadn't hesitated in letting him come to stay with her and it had turned out to be one of the best decisions of her life, he had repaid her kindness with his own so many times since then, as well as adding a certain excitement to her life which had been sorely lacking since Byron's death.

"Of course" she told him "but will you have to tell Peter?" she asked "only my friend would be devastated to have her foolishness brought out in the public and it might put her career at risk." June explained.

"I don't think we'll need the FBI for this one. After all who better to expose a con than a conman?" Neal gave June his best cheeky smile the one that always makes her smile back.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx

The session was being held in the meeting room of a small boutique hotel, which fortunately was centrally located and within Neal's radius. The room was already pretty full when Neal arrived. He sat himself towards the centre of the room to avoid attention, though given that the audience was predominantly women and the average age seemed to be about fifty he didn't really expect to be able to blend in. He was already drawing quite a bit of attention from the audience himself. He smiled at the lady next to him as he took off his hat and sat down, she was probably old enough to be his grandmother, she blushed at the attention and smiled back. What also strikes him is that the audience is also made up of the extremely wealthy. He recognises a few from the Forbes top wealthiest list and wonders how much June had to pay to get him a ticket.

The lights dim interrupting his chain of thought and Michelle Morgan comes out onto the stage. She is fairly attractive Neal thinks objectively speaking, if a little heavy on the peroxide and eye make for his tastes. Michelle waits until everyone settles down and is focused on her, smiling benevolently around the room. She clearly knows how to work a crowd, welcoming everyone and asking a few people from the audience to introduce themselves and say why they are there. He spots a couple of cameras, supposedly there to film Michelle but in the perfect position to film the audience, exactly where he would put them if he was running this sort of scam. He doesn't doubt that there are microphones all around picking the audience's conversation before the show. He has already spotted two people he thinks are plants in the audience as well.

Michelle works up a couple of the audience, guessing their names, family members backgrounds, using pretty standard cold reading techniques. It's clear to Neal straight away that she knows exactly what she is doing, she is not someone who believes in her own psychic powers.

"You are here to speak to someone you have lost" she tells an elderly woman wearing a wedding ring. It was not anything special, Neal wonders how any friend of June's could have been scammed by this as he watches Michelle as she studies her target, reading their faces as she makes her predictions and adapts her responses. Michelle finishes up, reassuring the woman that her husband has passed over safely, misses her and is happy.

Michelle puts her hands to her head, as if listening, probably listening to an ear piece Neal thinks. There us undoubtedly someone in a back room doing research on the audience while Michelle is doing readings. They had all been asked to fill in a visitor survey when they arrived, give their contact details so they could be sent promotional material for future events. All a good con man needs to get all the information they need for this type of scam.

He sees Michelle single him out in the audience and thinks he sees recognition in her eyes, though whether she knows who he is or just recognises him as a type he isn't sure. He keeps an earnest attentive gaze on her, staying in character.

"There's a strong message coming through, I've got someone here to speak to a Nick or Neal?" everyone looks around, there aren't many men in the audience, Neal sighs to himself, and raises his hand.

"Neal?" she asks he nods slightly.

"I can see you've lost someone recently, someone who meant a lot to you, a woman" Michelle tells him, gazing into the distances over Neal's shoulder. Neal puts on the correct expression of suspicion with just a tinge of hope.

"She was an older woman." Michelle announces to the room.

Neal inclines his head just slightly, not an actual nod, but just enough she can see it. He thinks of Ellen. The audience oohs appreciatively.

"Your mother?" Michelle guesses, Neal doesn't respond. "No, sorry, not your mother, but like a mother." Neal allows the pain he feels when he thinks of Ellen dying, him unable to do anything, that he normally keeps tightly bound to himself, to come out slightly. At least this pain is good for something he thinks bitterly. Method acting, he wishes Peter or Mozzie was here to appreciate his performance and so he could annoy them by comparing himself to Daniel Day Lewis. He idly wonders if Michelle just got this information from June's friend, from idle conversation between the two women about June's tenant or if she is better informed than she should be.

"She wants you to know she doesn't blame you" Michelle tells him kindly. Even though he was expecting something of this sort it's like a punch to the gut. He allows the pain he feels to appear on his face, not trying to hide it for once. Michelle enjoys the appreciation of the audience for a moment and then moves on to her next victim. It takes a few minutes for him to get himself back under control and once he does, he finds himself really angry.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Neal calls Mozzie over to strategize.

"Should we be meddling with powers best left alone? You know there is evidence that psychic powers do exist" Mozzie told Neal while pouring them both a glass of wine 'to help them think' he told Neal. It was hard to tell sometimes how serious Mozzie was, about such things. Neal knew that Mozzie was as much a con man as he was, he just used his eccentricity to distract people, making them dismiss him as a harmless freak, whereas Neal distracted them with smiles and charm.

"June was upset" Neal told him. Mozzie became serious immediately,

"She must be good to get to June" Mozzie speculated. "Yeah, she's got a professional set up and she's charging a thousand dollars to attend an open performance, private sessions start at ten thousand" Neal told Mozzie who made a noise of appreciation.

"She targets people who are grieving or vulnerable, gets them hooked on talking to their dearest departed or convinces them she can save their lives, then keeps bumping up the prices until she bleeds them dry."

"Not a bad scam." Mozzie offered, Neal gave him a hard look.

"If you are totally lacking in morals" Mozzie admits. He gives Neal a speculative look.

"Are you going to involve Peter?" Mozzie asks curiously.

Neal shakes his head.

"It's not really a FBI case. Plus, June asked me not to, her friend works for the government, if it comes out she's been seeing a psychic or worse a fake psychic…" Neal trails off.

"It wouldn't be good for her career" Mozzie finished understanding.

"Besides, if we can't handle this then we're losing our touch" Neal challenged, knowing Mozzie's ego won't let him refuse.

"So what's the plan?" Mozzie asks. Neal smiles at Mozzie until he shifts uncomfortably under the glare.

"How do you feel about entering the psychic business?" Neal asks.


	2. Chapter 2

**Medium Exchange**

**Chapter 2**

It was well after 3am before he and Mozzie had the workings of a plan. Fortunately it was Saturday the next day, so Neal was able to catch a solid five hours sleep before getting up to get the first stage of their plan underway. Neal and June called around everyone they knew who would be interested, letting them know there was a new psychic on the scene, one better than Madam Morgan and offering a free one to one session to prove it. They set up Neal's apartment for the readings. By mid-morning and with Mozzie's help, they had set up all the necessary props for the readings.

"Is that what you are wearing" Neal asked Mozzie raising an eyebrow. Mozzie was wearing one of his Hawaiian shirts and slacks.

"What if I was?" Mozzie challenged defensively, "there is no dress code for psychics"

"First appearances are important Mozz, we don't have time for you to win people over with your charm." Neal told him as patiently as he can.

"Don't get your panties in a wedge, I brought something especially for this" Mozzie told Neal, somewhat irritated. Mozzie pulled out a suit carrier from where he had left it amongst the equipment he had brought over. Neal was worried what he was going to pull out, Mozzie was somewhat of a wild card when it came to clothing. Neal was relieved therefore when the carrier was opened to reveal a simple dark suit and tie. It was something Neal might have worn himself.

"Nice" Neal admitted, causing Mozzie to relax and smile, as deny it as he may, he cared about Neal's opinion.

"Why am I being the psychic again? You know I prefer to stay behind the scenes and since when don't you want to do it?" Mozzie asked curiously.

Neal had given him some story about how Michelle wouldn't buy him as a psychic after seeing him at her reading and how he didn't have enough gravity to pull it off, i.e., he was too young looking, but Mozzie didn't buy it for a second. There was some other reason Neal didn't want to pull this con, it was out of character for Neal and Mozzie wanted to know why.

"I told you Michelle won't buy me as the psychic, especially after she 'read' me at her performance." Neal said defensively.

"What's the real reason?" Mozzie asked again.

Neal sighed and ran his hands through his hair, collapsing into a chair at the table opposite Mozzie.

"Before I met you, I might have been involved in one of these types of scams" Neal admitted.

"What? When? You've never mentioned it before and you've always refused to run these sort of cons when I've suggested them" Mozzie pointed out. He quietened down at Neal's stern look.

"There's a reason for that. I saw what these scams to do people. They take advantage of vulnerable people looking for help, for hope that things will get better, instead they lose their money and their hope." Neal told Mozzie bleakly.

Mozzie hesitated, not sure what question to ask next. Neal was obviously upset about whatever happened and Mozzie wasn't exactly comfortable playing therapist.

"I made a promise to myself Mozz, that I wouldn't play that part again. You understand don't you?" Neal asked pleadingly.

Mozzie nodded his agreement slowly. There was obviously more to this story but right before they had a big con to pull was not the time to be pulling skeletons out of closets. They needed to be on their 'A' game.

"Of course I can do it." Mozzie told Neal confidently. Neal smiled gratefully but Mozzie detected unease still in his eyes.

June's friend Lisa was their first 'client', Mozzie hardly had to use his cold reading skills on her, since they knew all about her from June. She seemed a nice lady, well dressed in her 40s with dark curly hair. She was not stupid, just someone who had lost her son and then as a result her husband, someone just looking for answers. Mozzie took her through the warm up questions they had practiced. Just showing her the basics. Once she was relaxed with him, they took her into the more difficult areas.

"Your son, he's here, what do you want to ask him?" Mozzie asked gently.

"I just want to tell Charles that I saw Mary-Lynn yesterday. She's doing okay now. She's thinking of moving, she says she wants a new start. I think she wants to get away from reminders of you, away from me as well." The words poured out of Lisa.

Mozzie tipped his head and pretended to be listening to Charles, when really it was Neal he was listening to.

"Tell her Charles says it's okay. Mary-Lynn has to move on with her life, meet someone new. That if his time in the army taught him anything it's that you have to keep moving forward" Neal told Mozzie, who relayed the message faithfully although with his own flair. Between them they did their best to reassure Lisa that Charles was at peace, that he was only hanging around to make sure his mother was okay, that he would wait with her as long as she needed him but that he wanted her to move on with her life too and be happy.

By the end of the session Mozzie saw why Neal was uncomfortable with it. These people were putting their lives in his hands. He liked the power of it and it was easy money but the responsibility was pretty overpowering. Lisa was a woman at the end of her rope, speaking to her dead son was her main reason for going on, the wrong word might push her over the edge.

They did five more readings that day, Mozzie and Neal's combined cold reading skills, together with June's background information and some judicious web research beforehand meant all the clients were suitably impressed and booked future readings. Thankfully none of them were as wrenching with Lisa, most just wanted to know how they could improve their lives or were bored with their lives and looking for a little supernatural excitement.

By the evening they had people calling them for appointments and were fully booked all day Sunday. By Sunday afternoon they had just finished when they received a call from Michelle Morgan's assistant asking for a meeting, one professional to another, the following day. June grinned in satisfaction as she hung up from the call. They had Madam Morgan's attention, now for phase two.

Neal and Mozzie sat drinking a celebratory glass of wine on Sunday evening. It was late and June had wished them both a good night and gone to bed.

"So when you pulled this con before, was that back in St Louis?" Mozzie asked fishing for information.

"Nice try Mozz, I still don't want to talk about it" Neal told him smiling and taking a sip of wine.

"You know I've missed this" Mozzie told Neal, sipping his wine.

"What do you mean, you never stop drinking" Neal said in mock outrage, deliberately misunderstanding, as he is not sure he is ready for this conversation either.

"Not the wine! The Con." Mozzie says loudly falling for it even though he knows better.

"We carry out cons all the time." Neal tells him dismissively.

"It's not the same" Mozzie told him morosely. "If you are doing with the Suits blessing it takes all the fun out of it."

There was a question behind what Mozzie was saying. Neal heard it even though it was unspoken.

"It won't be that long until you are off anklet." Mozzie prodded.

"I can't think about it yet Mozz" Neal told him honestly. "I have to focus on now."

Mozzie grudgingly accepted this, he knew Neal was surprisingly stubborn and wouldn't be pushed. The only person he had ever known to be able to talk Neal into changing his mind was Peter, which was why Mozzie both respect and feared his influence on Neal.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was another late night for Neal running through the set up for the next day's meeting with Mozzie and working out how they would handle the clients over the next few days as they had to keep the pressure on, make sure none of them went back to Michelle and that they gained positive word of mouth for Mr Haversham. That meant only a few hours of restless sleep again before he was due at work on Monday morning. Neal didn't mind the short sleep, he was used to erratic sleep patterns from heists and from working for the FBI. Plus he found the prospect of a con to be better than caffeine. The bad dreams that had him waking tangled in the sheets and sweating he could have done without. He showered and dressed quickly in his favourite grey suit and just had time to update June that the second part of their operation was underway before he had to leave for the office, trying to work out how to close the gaps in their plan. First they needed more information on this Michelle Morgan, find out exactly how she operated, what she did with the money if they were going to shut her down. As Mozzie was fond of quoting 'Know thy enemy'.

If it was an FBI case it would be easy, Neal would have a search run on Ms Morgan and have the results back by lunchtime, but any requests would be mentioned to Peter who would want to know why Neal was using FBI resources for personal reasons.

Maybe it was a good thing, Neal thought, perhaps he was getting lazy, depending on Peter and his team too much. He didn't want people to think he was losing his touch. Still it would be foolish not to use the resources available to him, if he could do it without raising attention. Trying to keep Peter unaware of what he was up to would be tricky, particularly as every time Neal came up with a way of tricking him, Peter implemented new procedures to ensure it wouldn't happen again. That meant no using the probies to run the search as Peter now got weekly reports of all searches, it also meant no just using another white collar agent's password. That is, unless he could somehow delete the information afterwards or doctor the search report and computers weren't really his thing. He couldn't simply use Peter's computer since Peter had that pesky key logger installed and there were cameras in the office. Neal would have to think of something new. This could be a real challenge Neal thought as he entered the office and greeted Diana and Jones good morning with a smile. It was also going to be fun he thought with relish.

There was a new face in the office today, he looked to be in his early 20s, was wearing a nervous and excited expression and wearing a suit in a way that suggested it was his first. Neal immediately identified him as a new probie straight out of Quantico. He sauntered over and introduced himself.

"Hi, I'm Neal Caffrey. You're new aren't you?" Neal asked holding out his hand to shake.

The young man stood up to shake hands, knocking papers off his desk. Neal helped him pick them up, they were new joiner instruction papers from HR and IT.

"Thanks." The young man told Neal once they had picked them all up and finally shaking hands "I'm John Griffiths" the young man introduced himself. "It's my first day" he told Neal who tried to look surprised.

"They've got you filling in paperwork all day?" Neal asked sympathetically. John nodded.

"Yeah, I was supposed to start last week actually, but they lost my security clearance, they had to run it all again." John told him, which gave Neal an idea. As a result he was only paying half attention when John asked him a question.

"Can you tell me where Room 20.3 is, I have to drop these forms off before my meeting with the boss."

Neal gave John a smile, trying not to grin at his luck and holding out his hands to take the papers.

"Let me drop them off for you. I was going to HR anyway, to sort out a problem with my tax code." Neal explained. John looked a little worried but Neal didn't give him a chance to reconsider. Before he could refuse Neal was already on his way to the lifts with the papers, leaving John standing there uncertainly.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After a quick scout ahead, Neal entered room 20.3, there were three desks but only two were occupied, one by bored looking a woman who looked to be a career admin assistant and one by a harassed looking man with a receding hairline and an unhappy expression. It wasn't tough to choose his target of the two. Neal smiled at the woman and offered her the papers.

"Hi, Agent Burke asked me to drop off the papers for our new probie, John Griffiths?" he made it a question. The woman's bored expression disappears and changes to cautious interest when she sees Neal.

"I can take those." she admits. He passes her the papers their fingers brushing.

"I'm Neal, I don't think we've met." He smiles at her and is pleased to see her warm up to him and definite interest in her eyes which is going to make life a lot easier.

"Cathy" she tells him.

"It good to meet you Cathy, I don't often get to leave the White Collar office" Neal charms her.

"Seems like Agent Burke's team is really busy, always up to something interesting. We are always hearing about the White Collar department." She smiles up at him.

"For the wrong reasons." The man at the other desk mutters under his breath. Neal and Cathy frown at him and he concentrates back on his computer.

"Don't mind him." Cathy told him.

"Anyway, I was just dropping the papers off as a favour to our new recruit. The real reason I'm here is because I've got a friend who Agent Burke thinks could be useful as a CI for a case we're working on. Peter sent me down so you could run the security background checks" Neal told her casually

"We are really snowed under, how soon does he need it?" She asked

"We can't get any further on the case without her" Neal tells Cathy honestly.

"Why has he sent you instead of calling himself?" the man piped up from the other desk somewhat suspiciously. Neal wanted to scowl at him and had to bite his tongue not to tell him to get lost. Instead he ignored him and smiled self-depreciatingly at Cathy answering as if she had asked the question.

"He says that's what he has me for. It's the same thing he says when he makes me get the coffee or find files for him." Neal told her "I don't mind though. He's really busy doing more important work. Someone has to do the admin right?" Neal told her conspiratorially, as if trying to excuse Peter's rude behaviour. She smiled at him sympathetically shooting a hard look at her colleague.

"It must be tough having such a tough boss" She tells him. Neal shrugs to say it is, but what can you do.

"I owe him a lot" Neal tells her earnestly.

"I can run it for you now" she told him,

"Are you sure? I don't want to get you in trouble" Neal tell her concerned

"I don't mind it shouldn't take long. Do you want me to send the results straight to Agent Burke" she asks.

"If you don't mind me bothering you while you work, I could wait" Neal told her flirting. "I'm only getting in the way upstairs anyway" he told her. She simpers under the heat of Neal's look and got to work on the search. The man scowled at the two of them the whole time. Neal got the file and manages to get away with just the promise of drinks after work with her the following week.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx


	3. Chapter 3

**Medium Exchange**

**Chapter 3**

Peter always knew when Neal was up to something. He couldn't tell you exactly how, maybe a certain look in Neal's eyes, maybe it was just an instinct, part of his gut detection system that the other agents joked about behind his back. The question was whether it was anything Peter needed to know about or worse something Peter needed not to know about. He had turned up to work on time and when Peter asked he said there was nothing going on which Peter needed to know about. Peter generally had faith that Neal did what he did for the right reasons, it was just that sometimes he got himself into situations he couldn't handle. Still he didn't have anything concrete yet so he would be patient, for now. Neal had already left the office, so he called up his tracking data. He would be patient but he would also be prepared.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx

Neal and Mozzie turned up promptly to the meeting with Michelle. They had debated about whether Neal should attend or not, Mozzie thought it would weaken them, make her suspicious but Neal wasn't going to let him go to the meeting alone. It wasn't that he didn't trust Mozzie, it was that he wasn't going to risk anything going bad and not being there.

It turned out Michelle Morgan had an apartment close to the hotel she had held her 'shows'. It was a pretty exclusive area, the background check Neal had got from the FBI had brought up a few minor charges of credit card fraud in her past, and details of several bank accounts holding payments from private clients, but not enough to maintain this kind of lifestyle for any period of time. Either she was gambling on payments continuing or she had a bigger scam going on than Neal or the FBI realised.

They were buzzed in by security and took the private elevator up to the penthouse.

"Maybe we should join forces with her" Mozzie joked. Neal frowned and Mozzie quieted down.

The doors opened and they stepped out into a hallway. There were two burly men standing nearby and Neal could see they were armed. They frisked Neal and Mozzie for weapons, raising an eye at Neal's anklet but making no comment. Why would a performer like Morgan need armed guards? Neal regretted not getting Peter involved after all.

"Looks like this won't be a friendly visit" Neal whispered.

"Change of plan?" Mozzie asked. Neal shrugged slightly to indicate they should play it by ear.

Michelle was sat watching the news when they entered. There was also a young woman sat at a nearby desk reading with a small girl, maybe seven or eight years old, they both had Michelle's blond hair and looked enough like Michelle to all be related. The young woman looked at them suspiciously, the little girl with interest, Neal smiled at her and she smiled back charmingly.

Michelle ignored all of them, one of the men gestured to a sofa to one side, Mozzie and Neal took a seat and waited. The whole set up was designed to intimidate them and put them at a disadvantage. What Ms Morgan didn't realise was Neal and Mozzie lived their lives at a disadvantage to the rest of the world. It was home to them.

The news item finished and it went back to headlines and Michelle turned off the sounds on the television and turned to focus on them, removing the glasses she had perched on her nose.

"Good afternoon. Mr Haversham is it?"

Mozzie smiled and nodded. She glanced at Neal.

"I think we've met before, haven't we, it's Neal from the other night?" she asked.

Mozzie and Neal had worked out a response to this already.

"I work for Mr Haversham, he sent me to check out the competition, this is his area and we always keep an eye on any new psychics in the area. Just making sure they are legit, not fakes." Neal said accusingly. The security guard in the corner shifted slightly.

"Not that we are suggesting that you are a fake of course." Mozzie told her slightly panicky. He wasn't always the best under pressure, another reason Neal was normally their front man.

"Nor I you" Ms Morgan replied smiling sweetly. "However, even _genuine _psychics such as yourself" she said the genuine word with a mixture of sarcasm and scorn, "have to understand that I can't just let you steal my clients." She told them.

"We haven't stolen anything. In fact since we were here first, we could argue you did the stealing." Neal told her staying relaxed, or at least appearing relaxed. The presence of guns meant things could go very bad very quickly. He also knew better than anyone that Michelle's charming persona didn't mean she wasn't capable of very bad things.

"I don't want to get into an argument with you." Michelle answered curtly. She glanced at the two girls at the table.

"Sarah take Mary next door" she ordered. The young woman, Sarah closed the book and led the little girl next door. She gave Neal an enigmatic look as she closed the door, which Neal couldn't interpret, there was definitely a hint of fear but he couldn't tell if it was of him, or for him.

Once the door was closed, Michelle nodded at the man in the corner who moved to the door so that the two men had both exits covered, they both drew their guns, though they didn't point them at Neal and Mozzie, yet. Neal and Mozzie exchanged a concerned look.

"I can tell you are smart men." Michelle told them "I don't know what kind of scam you were planning to pull on me, but it's not going to work. Now Mr Haversham, I'm going to write you a cheque and you and your friend are going to crawl back under whatever rock you crawled out from. You can retire from the psychic business or move to another area I don't care as long as I don't see you or hear from you again." She told them perfectly calmly walking over to the desk and writing out the promised cheque and handing it to Neal, it was for a hundred thousand dollars.

"That's very generous" Neal admitted.

"I prefer to keep things simple." She told them.

"and if we don't do as you ask?" Mozzie asked

"Well I know you are operating out of Mrs Ellingham's house, I believe Mr Caffrey rents a room there. This may sound a bit melodramatic, but best to be clear I think. I know where you live." She told them. Then she turned back to the television, turning the sound back up. Their interview was over.

They stood outside after being ushered out, Neal shivered and it wasn't due to the cool wind.

"Well we got her attention" Neal joked.

"Now what?" Mozzie asked. Neal could tell he was rattled but neither of them were the type to back down from a challenge.

"We do as she says" Neal told him.

Mozzie looked at him in disbelief. Neal smiled at him

"It's time to move on to stage 3 anyway" Neal told him confidently.

There was just one problem, he had no idea what stage 3 was.


	4. Chapter 4

**Medium Exchange**

**Chapter 4**

Mozzie and Neal hot-tailed it back to Junes for a war meeting, agreed on what their first move should be. Unfortunately June was proving uncooperative.

"I'm not leaving my home" June told them adamantly.

Neal and Mozzie had discussed it on the way, their priority was to keep June safe. They wanted her to go and stay with her daughter out of the city for a while, it was obviously the best plan. Unfortunately, June didn't see it that way. Neal nodded for Mozzie to leave them alone for a minute.

"June…" he started

"Don't you try and con me, young man. I was pulling cons before you were a shine in your daddy's eyes." She told him firmly.

"You've always been able to see right through me" Neal admitted. It was the simple truth, from the first day they met, June hadn't helped Neal because he had conned her, but because she saw straight through to the heart of him.

"I'm glad you realise that" June told him with satisfaction.

Neal leaned forward and took Junes hand gently.

"But June, you know we aren't asking you to leave on a whim. This woman, she's dangerous" Neal told her honestly.

June shook her head in denial.

"I'm not scared of that horrible woman and I can help…" She told him

"Please June." Neal asked. Something in his tone stopped her mid protest.

"If anything happened to you because of me, it would destroy me." Neal said quietly. June sighed. She was very fond of both Neal and Mozzie, but Neal especially had wormed his way into her heart. She saw through his lies, but often found herself going along with them anyway, just as she had with Byron. This one wasn't a lie, she knew.

"Alright." She conceded "but you'd better her, otherwise I'm coming back here to deal with her myself." She warned Neal trying to keep a stern expression on but giving in to a smile.

He kissed the back of her hand and smiled back in agreement.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx

By unspoken agreement, Mozzie and Neal didn't talk about what they were going to do until June was safely packed up and on her way out of the city. Once she was gone they retreated to Neal's roof-top apartment.

"What the plan?" Mozzie asked. Neal gave a half shrug. They had both been shaken by their meeting with Michelle Morgan.

"There is no way this is just about the psychic readings. She must have something much bigger going on." Neal thought aloud. Mozzie nodded.

"The money from those readings wouldn't have paid for that rug, let alone that apartment and she wrote out that cheque for $100,000 like it was nothing." Mozzie agreed

"I promised June we would take her down. So now what?" Neal asked Mozzie.

"Fresh activity is the only means of overcoming adversity." Mozzie quoted.

"That's not helpful." Neal told him.

"In an emergency, we have to accept whatever solution presents itself" Mozzie tried again.

"What are you saying Mozz?" Neal asked concerned

"Maybe it's time to bring in the Suit." Mozzie suggested plainly.

Neal raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"You want to call in the Feds?" Neal asked.

"I know, I know, but it seems the fastest way to get this woman off our backs" Mozzie told Neal. "We could just drop an anonymous tip into Peter's mailbox with everything we know" Mozzie suggested hopefully.

Neal shook his head. "No, we don't have enough to prove anything. Without people willing to testify there would be no case. It's not Peter's area, he would have to pass it to local NY PD. We have to deal with this ourselves Mozz, or at least get enough evidence for a prosecution."

"Well aren't we becoming quite the legal expert. I thought I was the laywer" Mozzie teased. Neal gave him a wry smile.

"Of course if she kills us Peter can prosecute her for murder" Mozzie pointed out cynically. Trying to make sure Neal was aware of the danger they might be getting into. He was also slightly puzzled at Neal's reluctance to involve the Suit now things were getting dangerous. This wasn't a simple con, nor was it something that implicated Neal or Mozzie, there was no reason not to bring it to Peter. There was always a reason behind everything Neal did or didn't do and Mozzie wanted to know why. On top of Neal's reluctance to play the psychic on this con, it was one unknown too many, it made Mozzie uneasy.

"Let's not let it get to that" Neal said quietly.

"Any ideas, how we're going to do this?" Mozzie asked.

"We need more information about what she is up to, I'm guessing it's in her apartment, so we need to get in there." Neal smiled the smile which usually meant he had a really bad idea.

"We're still going to bank that cheque though right?" Mozzie asked hopefully.

"Of course!" Neal agreed grinning.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

Getting into the apartment wasn't too difficult, Neal simply picked the lock to the emergency stairs after Mozzie cut the alarm to them and then it was just a long walk up to the penthouse. He was wearing a dark shirt with, with a dark jumper over the top and black trousers, Peter would have identified it as Neal's cat burglar outfit he thought fondly.

They had planned the break-in for the next evening Michelle Morgan was holding her next session at the hotel and she had taken her kids and her gun wielding friends with her. Mozzie had scoped out her routine for a couple of days while Neal was at work, then Neal had taken over in the evening when Mozzie had his own things to do. Neal didn't ask what.

There was another tricky lock at the top, but Neal didn't have a reputation as one of the best cat-burglar's around for nothing. He picked the locks and was into the dark apartment within a few minutes.

He quietly searched the apartment, looking for a safe, but there was nothing obvious. He didn't really expect someone as paranoid as Michelle to keep things in the living area. The bedroom was the best bet. He quietly opened the closest door which is turned out let to the master bedroom. He found a safe and cracked it open. There were several bundles of money inside, not that surprising since hired guns probably didn't want to pay tax. Underneath were property papers, for this apartment, the contract with the hotel for the ballroom hire and papers relating to office space hire. What would Michelle Morgan need with a 1,500 square foot office space? Neal quickly took copies of all the papers with his phone. He put the papers back as he found them and relocked the safe. He was tempted to reset the lock so that Michelle wouldn't be able to open it, a petty kind of revenge for threatening him and his friends. He decided it wasn't worth the risk it might raise her suspicion.

There was a noise from the front door, someone was coming in. The lights came on in the living room. Not good. Since that was the only exit, hiding was the only option. There wasn't anywhere in the room, which meant the balcony. Neal did not have a good history with hiding on balconies. The lights came on in the bedroom, it was night time and cold, so hopefully he could just wait here for a chance to get out. He didn't relish the idea of a night on the balcony but he'd spend the night in worse places. He pressed his ear to the glass to listen.

"I thought I heard something" a man's voice said.

"Well there's no one here" Michelle told him irritated.

"I don't like it, why was that FBI agent there tonight?" the man asked.

FBI agent? That had to be Peter, Neal thought, so much for staying off his radar. He had probably been checking on Neal's tracking data and curious what he was doing attending a psychic show. Neal didn't know whether to hope that Peter would turn up here now or not.

"The Feds might be outside right now" the man said his voice louder as he approached the balcony doors.

Uh-oh. Neal quickly jumped onto the balcony ledge and trying not to think about the long drop down, judged the gap and leapt to the next balcony and ducked down just in time. The curtains opened spilling light out onto Michelle's balcony and the doors opened. The man came out and looked down.

"Anything?" Michelle asked in a bored tone, coming out on the balcony.

"I don't think so. "Those two men, Haversham and the other one. They must have reported us, it's too much of a coincidence." The man said putting his arms around Michelle. She allowed it for a minute before pulling away.

"Well we tried to be nice. We'll just have to teach them a little lesson." She told him. "Now come inside it's freezing out here." Michelle led the way back in, the man took one further look down to the street then followed her back in, closing the door and pulling the curtains closed.

Neal looked around, there were only two balconies on this side of the building, it was too far to the next floor down and climbing up to the roof without any equipment looked really risky even for Neal who was a good climbed. He would have gone for it if the man had seen him but he preferred not to take that chance unless necessary. Better to wait and just sneak out once everyone was asleep. He risked a whispered call to Mozzie to let him know he was okay and to warn him to make himself scarce and stay away from June's until they had a chance to meet. He didn't think Michelle would make her move tonight but he didn't want to take any chances.

He waited for the lights to go off which took another two hours and then another hour until he was sure there was no more movement, keeping his hands in his armpits and moving about slightly to keep warm, before popping the lock on the balcony door in front of him. It was totally dark inside and thankfully quiet. Unfortunately it wasn't unoccupied, there were shapes beneath the blankets of the bed. Neal opened and closed the balcony door as quickly and quietly as he could. A cold wind had come in with him and one of the shapes in the bed moved. He froze hoping his luck would hold and they would go back to sleep. The shape stopped moving. He took a shaky break and tiptoed to the bedroom door. There was no light underneath it and it was quiet. He put his hand to the door.

"Are you a prince?" a small voice whispered.

He looked back at the bed, a small white face peered out at him. As his eyes adjusted to the light in here he could see it was the little girl, he had seen when he was here last, her name was Mary he remembered. Next to her he could just see blond hair, presumably the older girl, Sarah. Neal was surprised they had to share a bed given Michelle's living standards.

"No. I'm not a prince" Neal admitted, conscious that a single scream or shout could mean armed men coming in here and being found in the girls bedroom was not likely to engender good feeling. He spotted a story book on the bookcase

"I'm more like Aladdin" he offered.

The Mary's face lit up and she sat up. Neal almost groaned. Maybe he should have just said yes, or he that he was a monster who ate little girls who didn't go straight back to sleep.

"I just had to use your balcony as a short cut, but I have to go now" Neal told her.

"Do you have a genie?" she asked ignoring him.

"No, he hated being locked up in that tiny lamp so I let him go." Neal told her. "If your mom catches me, she's going to lock me up in the lamp instead. Will you help me?" he asked.

Mary looked puzzled for a minute and then pointed to the other bedroom

"Oh that's not my mom, that's grandma, this is my mom. I don't think she would lock anyone up. Probably. She might make you sit in the naughty corner though." The little girl told him, a lot more loudly than Neal liked. The girl's mother made a noise and moved slightly opening her eyes.

"Mary who are you talking to?" the young woman asked sleepily.

"Aladdin" Mary told her.

Sarah sat up and spotted Neal. Her eyes opened and she pulled Mary to her yanking them both out of the bed and away from Neal. To her credit she didn't scream or cry out.

"Please I'm not here to hurt you, let me explain?" Neal told her urgently in a low voice.

"Why are you here?" she asked. Neal decided to take a chance.

"I work with the FBI. I was investigating your mother, but you came back earlier than I expected. I was hiding on the balcony." He explained quickly. He was really taking a chance, hoping that he had read the young woman correctly in the few minutes he had observed her, that she didn't like this life her mother had them involved in, or at least wouldn't want to have a man killed because of it.

"You mean you are going to arrest her?" Sarah asked slowly. Neal quickly considered his options for when she shouted for help, the balcony or the door?

"Good." Sarah told him, though she looked worried.

Neal looked at the door, but this was too good an opportunity to just leave and the rest of the apartment was still dark and quiet.

"If you were willing to testify, I might be able to you a deal." Neal offered. Sarah shook her head but uncertainly. "She's my mother." Sarah told him.

"Then I can help you disappear instead, start a new life. No strings" Neal offered.

"Why would you help us?" Sarah asked.

"He's Aladdin, he's a hero" Mary piped up, Sarah shushed her. Neal smiled at Mary and then looked at Sarah earnestly.

"Your lives shouldn't be ruined because of your mother's choices. I just want to give you and Mary a chance. I've got 100,000 of your mother's money which should give you a head start. It's yours if you want it." Neal offered. "Just think about it. Is there somewhere we can meet?" he asked

Sarah thought for a moment. "Mary and I go to the park down the road after school most afternoons." She said finally. Neal nodded. He opened the bedroom door and after listening for a minute to make sure the coast was clear he slipped out of the room, through the apartment and back down the stairs. He didn't relax until he was several blocks away. He called Mozzie to reassure him that he had got out safely.

"and?" Mozzie asked

"We've got a new lead. Michelle has an office space she is renting." Neal told Mozzie.

"Why would a psychic need an office?" Mozzie asked.

"That's what we have to find out. I'm heading back to June's now." Neal told Mozzie.

"What? I thought Michelle was out to get us?" Mozzie asked concerned

"Peter is on to me, he went to Michelle's reading tonight. I want to be at home when he checks on my movements." Neal told Mozzie. "She won't be doing anything tonight, they were all fast asleep when I left."

He didn't know why he didn't tell Mozzie about his conversation with Sarah and Mary. Mozzie was a softie where kids were involved and though he might grumble about it he wouldn't really begrudge them the 100 thousand they had got from Michelle. It was partly habit not to tell everything and partly that he thought Mozzie would know that Neal was thinking of James when he looked at Sarah and Mary. Besides there was no need for Mozzie to know. If Sarah, understandably, didn't want to help take her mother down, then the less people who knew about her the better.


	5. Chapter 5

**Medium Exchange**

**Chapter 5**

The house felt different without June in it, emptier, even though they often didn't see each other during the week thanks to the odd hours Neal's often worked, it was comforting knowing she was here. Without June here it was just a house, not a home. Neal showered and fell into bed, only to be woken by his mobile ringing what seemed like seconds later.

"Good morning Peter." He managed.

"Good morning Neal. Were you planning on joining us today" Peter asked somewhat sarcastically Neal thought. Neal glanced at the clock, it was already 9.30am, all these long days and short sleep was starting to catch up with him.

"Sorry Peter, I guess I overslept" Neal admitted, a bit shamefaced. He wasn't going to stay ahead of Peter lying in bed all day.

"That's what will happen when you don't go home until after 3am" Peter told him.

"You checked my tracking data?" Neal asked in a hurt voice, hoping to distract Peter from discussions of why he had been at Michelle Morgan's apartment all night.

"I believe we have discussed this before. I always verify your tracking data. I was worried when you didn't show up" Peter told him bluntly. Neal felt slightly guilty, though he hadn't done it deliberately.

"I'll be there in thirty minutes." He told Peter.

"I'll be waiting" Peter told him ominously before hanging up.

Neal got ready quickly and dashed out of the house. Because he was still tired and thinking about what he was going to tell Peter he didn't pay attention to the car as it came around the corner.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

Peter glanced at the clock, it had been an hour since he gave Neal his wake up call. This was getting ridiculous. He would have to have it out with him when he got here. Peter had been patient up to now, waiting for Neal to come to him, but now Neal's extracurricular activities were affecting his work.

When he had realised Neal had spent the evening at a psychic show he assumed it was either a girl or a scam. He had hoped it was a girl. When he went to Ms Morgan's apartment a few days later Peter decided to check her out himself. He had gone along to the show taking El as an excuse, and had a brief talk with Ms Morgan following the show. Her suspicious response had been enough to set off his gut detector. Maybe she was psychic, but he didn't think so and he seriously doubted Neal would have sought her out for her psychic advice. He had Diana and Jones running checks on her now.

His phone rang, it was Neal.

"What's taking you so long?" Peter asked irritably. "You'd better not have fallen asleep again" he told Neal, and reflecting that he was starting to sound like his father.

"Peter, I'm at the hospital." Neal told him.

"Are you okay?" Peter asked concerned.

Neal was grateful his first question wasn't 'what happened?'. He knew Peter cared about him, but sometimes the FBI Agent in Peter over-rid everything else.

"I was clipped by a car. It's nothing serious, but they won't let me leave without someone picking me up." Neal told him. He would have preferred to call Mozzie to collect him, but he had sent him into hiding and he would have had to explain not making it to work and his injuries to Peter at some point.

"I'll be right there." Peter told him without hesitation.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The hospital was a hive of activity when he got there but he managed to find someone to direct him to the emergency department where with some difficulty and mostly by flashing his badge, he managed to speak to Neal's doctor. By flashing his badge some more and explaining that he was Neal's handler and effectively his next of kin, he got the Doctor to tell him what happened, or least what Neal had told them.

Neal had been crossing the road near his apartment and wasn't paying attention when a car came round the corner. It was a hit and run, Neal said he didn't get the number plate. Luckily, the Doctor said, there wouldn't be any permanent damage. Neal was badly bruised and had a mild concussion, along with a cracked collar bone, which didn't sound that luckily to Peter. He didn't believe for a second that it had been an accident either.

He went through to the cubicle they were keeping Neal. He could hear Neal's voice as he approached he seemed to be arguing with someone.

"No, we can't risk it" Neal said firmly

"Look I know, but we still don't know what's really going on. Please just do as I ask Mozz" Neal asked tiredly. Peter entered the cubicle, Neal looked up at him from where he was perched on the edge of the bed, mobile in hand.

"Peter's here to pick me up. I gotta go." Neal spoke into the phone and ended the call, one handedly awkwardly putting the phone into the pocket of his jacket lying on the bed next to him. His left arm was in a sling and there was a small graze on his face but otherwise he looked fine. Peter felt relieved.

"Let's go" he told Neal. Not wanting to have it out with him in the hospital.

Neal silently followed him through the hospital corridors and to the car. Neal couldn't help wincing as he carefully folded himself into Peter's passenger seat. Peter started driving, focusing on the road, he was intending to wait until they got to his house before questioning Neal, but the sight of him getting into the car was enough to ignite his anger towards Neal and whoever did this.

"What happened?" he asked Neal

"I was tired and hurrying to get to the office. I wasn't paying attention. I didn't see the car until it was too late" Neal told him almost in monotone, without any of his usual flare. Peter continued to focus on the road trying not to let his worry and frustration turn into anger. His white knuckle grip on the steering wheel telling him he wasn't doing too well.

"You want me to believe it was just a random hit and run." Peter replied in the same tone.

"Yes" Neal said defiantly.

"Well I don't believe it" Peter told him.

They took the road that led to Peter's house in Brooklyn, Neal realised and wondered what to do. He didn't want to be trapped at Peter's house, though it obviously wasn't safe back at June's either. He was also conscious that he was supposed to be meeting Lisa and Mary at the park around 4pm which was back in the city.

"Aren't we going to the office?" Neal asked in a surprised tone, to buy some time.

"You were just run over, I figured that entitled you to a day off" Peter told him.

"I'm fine, I can do paperwork" Neal told him, realising immediately that this was a mistake. He was a bit off his game.

"You hate paperwork" Peter told him predictably.

"I prefer it to being lectured at your house" Neal muttered grumpily, aware he sounded like a grumpy teenager.

"If I've got the day off, I want to go home to rest" Neal declared.

"I'll take you home. After we've talked." Peter told him.

"Please Peter, I was tired before this, as you know I got home late, and now I'm sore and tired. Can't the interrogation wait until tomorrow?" Neal pleaded.

Peter was silent for a minute.

"No. I have been patient for nearly a week and the result was you ended up in hospital. I want to know what's going on. Now." Peter told him firmly.

Neal didn't have answer so he stayed quiet for the rest of the journey considering his options. Short of jumping out of the car, Neal didn't see he had a lot of choice, especially with a broken collar bone. He followed Peter into the house as slowly as possible, moving slowly due to his injuries, but playing them up for extra sympathy from Peter. El was working at the dining table when they came in.

"Hey Honey? You're home early, is everything okay?" she asked concerned and then she saw Neal enter behind Peter moving slowly with his arm in a sling.

"Neal! What happened? Are you okay?" She hustled Neal to the sofa and went to make him a cup of tea for the shock she said. Peter followed her to the kitchen after instructing Neal to stay put, to give El a quick explanation. By the time they came back with the tea Neal was supposedly asleep on the settee.

"Neal" Peter called loudly, not falling for it but Elizabeth shushed him and hustled him back to the kitchen.

"He's faking it to avoid a conversation with me." Peter told her.

"Peter, he's just been run over. Even if he is pretending I think you should let him rest. He can't sleep forever and giving him some time to rest won't hurt" She told him. Peter grumped but was unable to refused Elizabeth anything. Elizabeth covered Neal with a blanket and the two of them worked quietly at the dining table until Neal groaned a couple of hours later.

"Ow" he moaned as he opened his eyes and moved slowly. "I feel like I was hit by a car, oh wait…" he joked.

Elizabeth had gone out to check out a new venue for her catering company which was offering to host events. Peter handed Neal a coffee, which he took gratefully.

"Time to talk" Peter told him. "What's going on?"

"What time is it?" Neal asked. Peter rolled his eyes at this obvious change of subject. Neal pulled his watch out of his pocket, they had made him take it off at the hospital, wincing at the movement. All the bruises were starting to come out and the broken collar bone was no bundle of laughs either. It was already after 3pm, he'd been asleep for over an hour.

"Peter I have to get to Grammercy Park right now" he told him urgently.

"We aren't going anywhere until you tell me what is going on." Peter told Neal firmly.

Neal weighed helping Sarah and Mary over keeping Peter out of things. He was going to have to give Peter something.

"I'm helping out a friend. There's someone I am supposed to meet her at Grammercy Park at 4pm her and her daughter need my help." Neal told Peter trying to pick out truths that will persuade Peter without giving everything away.

"Is it connected to how you became a crash test dummy?" Peter asked

"Yes." Neal admitted grudgingly "But they weren't trying to kill me, it was just a warning." Neal told him.

Peter raised his eyes, "Well that makes it okay then" he told Neal.

"Please Peter?" Neal asked giving him the puppy dog eyes, even Peter wasn't immune to.

"Alright, but I'm coming with you." Peter told him

"but.." Neal started to argue

"No. You can tell me the rest on the way." Peter replied firmly

"Okay" Neal gave in.


	6. Chapter 6

**Medium Exchange**

**Chapter 6**

Neal gives Peter the basics while on the drive. He leaves out Lisa and June and hopes Peter doesn't ask how he got involved in the first case, deliberately making it sound like it was because he met Sarah. He'll have to worry later about Lisa's name coming up in the FBI investigation that is now sure to occur.

"So she calls you over to warn you off last night and then tries to run you over this morning? So much for the famous Caffrey charm" Peter said frowning.

"Maybe it really was an accident" Neal joked. He wasn't sure what was going on yet either, it seemed unlikely that Michelle Morgan would give him a 100,000 dollar cheque and then run him over but then again the cheque had been for Mozzie, the psychic not for Neal the assistant. Maybe it was just a bit of extra incentive for Mozzie to pack up shop. Either that or someone else was out to get him which was not a comforting thought.

Neal's phone buzzes and he recognises the number at Mozzie's latest phone. He picks up and warns him that he is with Peter before putting him on speaker, which he knows Mozzie hates but Neal feels he owes Peter.

"Neal, I've checked out the office. It's a call centre." Mozzie told Neal. Neal was puzzled, how did that fit into everything.

"For what?" he asked puzzled

"It's a psychic hotline." Mozzie said triumphantly. He loved to be the one with all the answers especially when it involved showing how he is ahead of the FBI.

"Guess how many calls they took last year?" He didn't wait for Neal's guess.

"Over 490,000 calls, which at $5 a minute and an average of 5 minutes a call nets them.."

"$12.25 million dollars a year" Neal calculated out loud, irritating Mozzie by stealing his thunder.

"That helps explain how she can afford that fancy apartment." Neal says.

"Oh but that not all, the name that's coming up on the street, when I asked around about this place wasn't Michelle Morgan." Mozzie added pausing dramatically.

"What's the name? I'll run it through the bureau" Peter asked impatiently.

"Michelle Bataglia" Mozzie said triumphantly. Neal looked blank but Peter recognises the name immediately.

"Of the Chicago Bataglia family?" Peter asked.

"That's what I'm guessing" Mozzie told them. "Neal it's no wonder she has armed guards. The word is the family fell on hard times when their boss was arrested for murder, she got pushed out of Chicago. I guess she came here. The word on the street is that this isn't the only scam she has going on either" He told them.

"So she decided to make a fresh start in Old New York" Neal realised.

"Thanks Mozzie. I'll call you later. You staying off radar?" Neal asked.

"Of course" Mozzie told him insulted at the idea that he wouldn't be careful. I'll be at Tuesday if you want to come over later?" Mozzie asked, referring to one of his safe houses. Neal agreed he's come by and hung up.

"Neal, if the mob is involved, that makes things a lot more complicated and dangerous. Is this meeting going to be safe?" He asked.

"Of course." Neal assured him. "Michelle doesn't even know I've spoken with Sarah, she's got no reason to be suspicious."

"Except she's a moss boss. I think she might be suspicious generally and have protection on her daughter and granddaughter." Peter pointed out.

"It'll be fine Peter" Neal told him cheerfully.

Things were looking up, so Michelle Morgan or Bataglia might be a lot more dangerous than they realised, but on the bright side the FBI weren't going to be interested in pursuing the psychic readings scam when there were mob crimes and multi-million dollar phone scams going on. It also meant his chances of getting Sarah and Mary out of there was definitely the right thing to do. He was sure Peter would arrange witness protection for them if Neal asked, Peter was sucker for kids after all, but Neal had learned from personal experience that witness protection wasn't always effective. Ellen had supposedly been under witness protection when she was killed after all.

They make it to the park just after four. They couldn't see anyone watching the park but they drove round a couple of times to be sure. Peter reluctantly waited in the car after Neal persuaded him that he would scare Sarah off. Peter had called to make to the office anyway, letting them know about the new case he was now working on, informing the organised crime department that Michelle Bataglia had surfaced. Neal had told Peter he thought Sarah might be open to being a protected witness since he didn't think Peter would be open to the idea of just helping her and her daughter disappear with a load of Michelle's money.

Neal removes the sling, before exiting the car as normally as he can, Peter raises his eyebrows but doesn't say anything. Peter knows itscare Sarah off if she sees that Neal has been injured. Neal finds Sarah sat on a bench while Mary plays on the swings with a friend. Her eyes flick to the small graze on Neal's face.

"Did my mother do that?" She asked.

"Not in person" Neal smiles slightly bitterly and sits down trying to hide how stiff he is getting from the bruises.

"It can't surprise you, you know what kind of person your mother is." Neal tells her. Sarah nods watching Mary.

"It's just hard you know, she is my mother, and she does love us, she'd do anything for us. It's just, this isn't the life I want for Mary. I want her to have choices in life." Sarah told him without looking at him.

"That doesn't make you a bad person, it makes you a good mother" Neal told her. "The FBI are close to arresting her maybe even today or tomorrow. If you still want to go, you should go - now." Neal told her. He drew a Gold Card out of his wallet

"This is pre-loaded with $100,000 cash, you and Mary can go right now. Make a fresh start." He tells her.

Sarah looks startled at the idea.

"Where would we go?" she asked uncertainly.

"Wherever you want to. That's the whole point" Neal told her. "I know it's scary the idea of a whole new life, changing the way you live. I've been there. It can also be the best thing that ever happens to you." He told her, hesitating about continuing. She sees his hesitation

"What were you going to say?" She asks

"That I know what it's like. She's your mother, you want to protect her even though you know what she is doing is wrong. Neither of my parents were exactly model citizens. My father wasn't around when I was growing up and I always wished my mother would change, be like other people's mothers." Neal paused uncomfortable talking about his past, though somehow it was easier to share this with a relative stranger than with Peter, Sara or Mozzie.

"What happened?" Sarah asked

"I grew up. I realised you can't make other people change. You can only decide how you are going to live, and what kind of life you are going to give your daughter." Neal told her looking at Mary running around towards them.

"I need a little time to think about it." She tells him.

"Take this anyway. Whatever you decide you might want to make yourselves scare for a few days." He holds out the Gold Card to her.

She looks at him searchingly then nods and takes the Gold Card tucking it in her pocket. She leans over and kisses him on the cheek.

"Whatever your parents were like, you are a good person." She tells him. He smiles sadly, knowing she has only seen what he has shown her, that the truth is more complicated.

"Thank you" She tells him. She takes Mary by the hand and they walk together to the park exit.

Neal watches them go and hopes Sarah makes the right choice and if she does maybe she can tell him what the right choice is, he doesn't really know anymore. He thought by keeping Peter and Mozzie separate, keeping the two parts of his life separate, it might help him sort things out, but everything in his life is so tangled now it's proving impossible.

He senses Peter watching so he doesn't give in to the temptation to put his head in his hands and rub his face, as much as he'd like to. Instead he stands up as gracefully as his injuries will allow and flips his hat onto his head and puts on a smile instead. He's given Sarah and Mary a choice at least. That's more than many people get. Plus he's thought of a way to take down Michelle without involving June and Lisa and maybe get revenge on the son of a bitch who ran him over in the process.


	7. Chapter 7

**Medium Exchange**

**Chapter 7**

Mozzie had the feeling someone was following him, but then he almost always had that feeling. He decided to be careful and made sure to double back twice before taking the long way to the safe house located in Little Italy. It was an old shop that had been closed down and boarded up many years before.

It was a fairly new acquisition but he was quite fond of it already. He almost regretted that Neal would be coming over, as with his anklet being FBI monitored, the safe house would be burned after today.

Neal turned up after 10pm bearing a bottle of wine.

"You're late." Mozzie commented. Neal held out the bottle of wine, Mozzie was gratified to see it was a decent Merlot and then he realised it was a very specific wine from the Satin Émilion region of Bordeaux.

"I was feeling nostalgic" Neal told Mozzie defensively following him inside.

Downstairs was Mozzie's workshop, so they went upstairs where Mozzie had rooms arranged fairly comfortably, there was a small living room and kitchen and even a separate bedroom. Mozzie looked out the window and spotted the FBI's van outside.

"Neal…" he started outraged.

"I know, I know but Peter wanted to put us both into protective custody, this was the best compromised I could come up with. You were planning to burn this place after we're done anyway right?" Neal told him, slowly levering himself into a chair.

It was Neal's slow movements more than anything else that stopped Mozzie mid-outrage at Neal setting the FBI on his safehouse.

"How bad is it?" He asked.

"It's nothing." Neal told him.

"Cause if you aren't up to this, maybe we should leave it to the Suit. I don't want to end up in hospital too" Mozzie said hesitantly. He wasn't keen on this sort of conversation but he would try for Neal's sake.

"Nothing serious, mostly some bruises and a cracked collar bone but I'm pretty stiff." Neal admitted, touched by Mozzie's concern, however badly expressed.

They opened the wine while Neal explained what had been happening with Peter. After Neal's meeting and Mozzie's revelation as to Michelle Morgan's real identity Peter and Neal had gone back to the FBI's offices. It would be a real coup for the White Collar division to nail her and both Peter and Neal would take satisfaction in rubbing it in the face of Agent Ruiz from the Organized Crime department. They had called up all the information on the call centre and on all Michelle Morgan's aliases. The papers Neal had given them tied them together but without witnesses on the psychic reading side they would have difficulty proving fraud and the psychic phone line was set up with a warning that it was for "entertainment" so it would be difficult to get a conviction for fraud. The whole team was combing through the company's papers looking for any irregularities but without more evidence it was unlikely they would get a conviction. Since Michelle was already aware she was being investigated it was likely she would close down and move on her operation so they didn't have long, a few days at most.

"Well if she moves on that still takes care of the problem with Lisa" Mozzie commented. Michelle was clearly more dangerous than they had realised when they agreed to help and he saw no reason to help the FBI.

""What she did to Lisa and the others was wrong" Neal told Mozzie and I think she tried to kill me Mozz" Neal pointed out mildly.

"All the more reason to stay away from her." Mozzie exclaimed.

"Besides, it's obvious that's not what this is about. You've had a chip on your shoulder about this since the beginning." Mozzie confronted Neal.

"What do you mean?" Neal asked defensively

"There is something personal in this for you and when it comes to personal you don't stay focused." Mozzie told him.

"You want to just let her get away with it?" Neal asked angrily

"Why not? I'm not a Fed and neither are you Neal. We're con men." Mozzie countered firmly.

Neal stood up and for a second Mozzie thought he might throw something or even punch Mozzie. Instead he took a deep breath and stepped away from the table to the door.

"You're right, you should stay out of this. I don't have that luxury." Neal told Mozzie. He picked up his hat and jacket and walked out. Mozzie looked after him dismayed. He had never known Neal to walk out during a disagreement before. Neal was a brother to him, if he was really determined to do this Mozzie would have helped and Neal knew that. For Neal to walk out like threw Mozzie, was Neal trying to protect him or was something else going on. He didn't know what it meant, what he should do now.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Peter was just reviewing the latest research on Michelle Morgan before heading up to join Elizabeth in bed when his work phone rang from a number he didn't recognise, he picked up.

"Suit we have a problem" Mozzie told him

For Mozzie to be calling him, well it wouldn't be good, Peter braced himself to be annoyed at best and possibly terrified at worst.

"What is it Mozzie?" he asked fearing the answer. The fact that Mozzie gets straight to the point, not even making one quote or complaint scares Peter more than anything.

"Neal walked out." Mozzie tells him simply.

As always when talking to Mozzie, Peter felt both confused and annoyed. He usually suspected the little man did it deliberately since he had no love of the authorities but this time he just sounded worried.

"What do you mean he walked out?" Peter asked.

"We had a disagreement about the whole Michelle Morgan situation and he left." Mozzie explained.

Peter sensed there was more to it than a simple disagreement. Neal and Mozzie were close, too close in Peter's opinion and their loyalty to each other was without question.

"Where is he going?" Peter asked

"That's the thing Suit, you can't predict the unpredictable." Mozzie told Peter, ratcheting up his irritation and worry.

"Do you think he's going to do something stupid?" Peter asked directly

"I honestly don't know" Mozzie told him and the worry in his voice stopped Peter from responding angrily, demanding answers Mozzie didn't have.

"Okay, leave it with me, I'll pull up his tracking data and alert the teams to go pick him up." Peter told him reassuringly as there was a knock at the front door. Peter walked over and saw Neal's outline standing outside.

"Mozzie, he's here. I'll call you later." Peter told him hanging up and opening the door simultaneously.

Neal smiled at Peter, it was almost his usual cheeky smile, if Peter didn't know him so well he might not have seen the stress underneath.

"I've got an idea about how to get the witnesses against Michelle." Neal told him.

Peter stepped back to invite him in.

"I thought we agreed you'd stay at Mozzie's safe house tonight?" Peter asked cautiously as they sat down in the living area.

Neal shrugged slightly,

"We have to move quickly before Michelle shuts her operation down. I knew you would still be up." Neal told Peter.

Peter was sure there was truth in that since Neal rarely lied directly to him but equally he was rarely completely honest. Peter could have pointed out that he was about to go to bed, that Neal could have just phoned him and told him about Mozzie's call but he didn't want to push Neal away and have him walk out of here too. Instead he put coffee on and they tried to work through Neal's idea.

"It's worth a try but it's not going to work without Mozzie." Peter told Neal.

Neal nodded grimacing as he leaned forward to pick up his coffee cup. Peter couldn't tell if it was his injuries or the thought of facing Mozzie.

"I'll talk to him." Neal told Peter.

"He called earlier, before you showed up here. He was worried" Peter told Neal honestly.

Neal nodded but didn't say anything, he put his mug back down and sat back putting his left arm carefully on his lap, his broken collar bone obviously bothering him.

"Have you taken any painkillers?" Peter asked.

Neal shook his head. "They make me too foggy and with people trying to run me over and a mafia boss after me, I figured that wasn't a good idea." He gave Peter a wry smile.

Peter shrugged. "Pain can fog you up, make you act irrationally too" he pointed out neutrally.

Neal's smile grew wider but it was more definitely forced this time.

"You're right Peter, I left them at Mozzie's. I should be going anyway, I don't want to get into trouble with Elizabeth for keeping you up too late." He told Peter and leaning forward to lever himself off the settee. He visibly wobbled for a minute but managed to get up.

"You can stay here tonight." Peter told him firmly. Neal didn't look like he was up to causing any trouble tonight but he wanted to be sure he knew where Neal was and didn't want to run the risk of another run in with Mozzie, causing one or both of them wandering the streets or doing something reckless.

Neal shook his head stubbornly.

"You're staying here tonight and that's final. I'll drive you over there first thing in the morning." Peter told Neal.

For a second Peter was sure Neal was going to argue, but he gave in surprisingly meekly. Either he felt worse than Peter realised or he was up to something.

"Promise me you will stay here tonight?" Peter demanded, knowing Neal wouldn't break a direct promise to him. Neal nodded wearily, confirming Peter first suspicion that his CI was feeling pretty terrible. Peter showed him to the spare room and loaned him some pyjamas which Neal didn't even comment on, let alone make fun of, which added to Peter's concern.

Peter found some over the counter painkillers, they weren't prescription standard but they would at least take the edge off and getting Neal to take them was easier since they also wouldn't cloud his mind like the strong stuff.

Once he was sure Neal was set up he headed to bed himself. Elizabeth was fast asleep and deliciously warm when he climbed in next to her. Having extracted the promise from Neal he felt reasonably confident that Neal wouldn't go running off into trouble tonight but that didn't stop him listening out for noises from the spare room until he finally fell asleep.

The bed was empty when Peter woke up, Elizabeth had early meetings this morning he remembered. He got up and headed for the bathroom, checking on the spare room on the way, it was empty, the bed nearly made up again. He was probably already downstairs charming Elizabeth into making breakfast for him. He got washed and dressed and headed downstairs. Elizabeth was drinking her coffee and setting up the table for breakfast.

"Morning Hon" he told her giving her a kiss "Where's Neal?" he asked looking around.

"Neal?" Elizabeth asked confused.

"He stayed here last night" Peter explained, checking the patio. There was no sign of him. Satchmo was lying in the garden and wagged his tail at the sight of Peter so he wasn't out walking the dog.

Peter checked his phone and found he had an email from Neal.

"Peter, I stayed the night as promised. Didn't want to interrupt your and El's breakfast, know how important it is to you. Gone back to Mozzie's to set up the plan. Speak to you later. Neal. xoxoxo"

Peter ground his teeth and dialled Neal's mobile while El looked on with concern. His phone went straight through to voicemail.

"Neal, it's Peter call me as soon as you get this." He said curtly into the phone. As soon as he hung up his phone rang. It was Diana

"Peter, I have bad news." She told him. "The agents we put on the safe house, they were shot last night, one of them had died the other is in ICU. There's no sign of either Neal or Mozzie, we think they have been taken." Peter's stomach dropped. He was vaguely aware of El asking him what was wrong.


	8. Chapter 8

**White Collar – Medium Exchange- Chapter 8**

Neal's first thought when he got to the safe house and saw the police cars and ambulances outside lining the streets was that he was too late again to save someone he loved. He had hesitated to join Kate on the plane, been minutes too late to save Ellen and now Mozzie. He wasn't aware of turning away, of faltering steps becoming a run, his feet pounding the pavements, running, running until he couldn't breathe, couldn't run anymore, and only then slowing to a walk, but not stopping. He didn't feel any pain. He just had to keep moving, maybe then he could stay ahead of it, the truth couldn't catch him, hurt him.

He didn't see the car pulling up beside him. It wasn't until Jones was in front of him blocking his way, making him stop, that he even saw him.

"Neal, where are you going?" Jones asked impatiently. Neal tried to step around him but Jones grabbed his arm. Neal was vaguely aware of pain from his cracked collar bone as it shot down his arm and chest and the burning all over from his run but it all seemed far away, unimportant somehow.

"Neal, stop. What happened?" Jones asked. He didn't know what to expect to find when he had tracked Neal's anklet, at best he hoped the bad guys had failed to realise Neal was wearing it, that they might find Neal and Mozzie and worst he expected to find the anklet discarded. He hadn't expected to find Neal just wandering along. Neal seemed to be in shock.

"What happened?" Neal asked.

Jones looked at him confused. That's what I asked you." He told Neal gently.

"Is he dead?" Neal clarified the dread in his eyes easy to see.

"We don't know." Jones told him honestly. "The two agents outside were shot but there was no sign of Mozzie in the safe house. We think he was probably taken. We thought you had been there too, what happened?" He asked Neal again.

"I got there too late." Neal explained. It was all he said. Jones took Neal's arm and steered him to the car. Neal didn't resist as Jones opened the door and put him in and didn't say a word during the ride that took him to the office. Peter was already there, co-ordinating the search and response operation. Jones trusted Peter to know the best way to deal with this.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The office was bustling as normal and Peter was just reviewing the latest data in his office when something made him look up. He was shocked to see Jones coming through the doors, followed by Neal. He quickly made his way down the stairs to meet them and hugged Neal briefly.

"We thought they had taken you. Did Mozzie get away too?" Peter asked. Neal didn't respond. He looked at Jones for explanation.

"I found him wondering along the waterfront." Jones explained, speaking over Neal's head like someone would do with a child. Peter turned to go up to his office, expecting the other two to follow only to look back and see Neal still standing there. Something was very wrong, Peter realised. Jones took Neal by the elbow and steered him up the stairs to Peter's office. They got him sat in a chair and got him a warm cup of coffee. With some prompting they managed to get him to drink it while they went through the latest papers. Combined with being in the warm and light office with Peter and Jones they gave Neal time to pull himself back together.

"I'm sorry." He told them looking up from staring into his cup, awareness back in his eyes.

"What happened?" Jones asked again.

"I don't know. I was heading back to the safe house, the police were already there. I didn't want to know…" Neal trailed off, his eyes watering. Peter made eye contact with Jones.

"I'll go check in with the teams, see if there is any more news." Jones picking up on Peter's cue, excused himself to go check in with the rest of the team, leaving the two of them alone. Peter waited until Neal got himself back under control, flicking through the papers on his desk, checking them for anything he might have missed, or at least pretending to.

"There was no blood in the safe house. He was most likely taken alive. If they had wanted him dead we would have found him there, like the agents" Peter told Neal. It was cold comfort. One agent was dead, one seriously injured and Mozzie was taken, maybe dead too, all because of Neal. No. He couldn't think about that now, Neal told himself. He had to find Mozzie that was all that mattered now. The numbness he felt now was good. It would help him focus, find Mozzie alive or otherwise, find the people who did this. The rest could wait.

"We need to bring in Michelle Morgan. Question her." Neal told Peter.

"We don't have anything to bring her in. There is nothing tying her to the safe house, the shooting of the agents." Peter told him. We've got some CCTV of the men, we're running them through the database but it's not that clear and the van's plates were obscured."

Fury suddenly surged through Neal like an electric current but he kept it contained.

"I need to go to the safehouse. If he was able Mozzie would have left me a clue" Neal told Peter tightly. Peter hesitated, then nodded and picked up his car keys. He understood Neal's need to do something and if anyone would find Mozzie, reading some obscure clue left behind, it was Neal.

"Let's go." Peter told him.


	9. Chapter 9

**White Collar – Medium Exchange- Chapter 9**

Neal was quiet in the car ride but seemed alert watching out the window, checking his phone and he got out of the car straight away when they arrived at the safe house. There were still police cars outside and tape across the street but the ambulances had gone. Peter followed Neal into the building, keeping the younger man in front of him so he could watch him. Peter knew that when people Neal cared about were threatened he would do anything to protect them, usually in the most reckless and dangerous way possible. Usually Peter would have sent him home and asked Mozzie to keep an eye on him but since that wasn't possible, he decided it was better to keep Neal where he could watch him.

Peter flashed his badge at the officer guarding the door and they passed through the tape into the shop. Things had been knocked from the counters on to the floor, but no sign of blood to indicate Mozzie had been hurt. Peter stood back and let Neal look around for clues. Neal looked around carefully examining every surface and item. He picked up a strange looking tool from the counter, Peter had no idea what it was and thought it was probably best not to ask.

"Mozzie has always been there for me" Neal said aloud, his voice breaking a little, not looking at Peter, keeping his eyes on the tools in front of him one by one.

"We'll find him." Peter told him reassuringly. He hoped it was true, that they would get the little man back. As much as he disapproved of Mozzie's influence on Neal and the way he lived outside the law, he was fond of him. He also knew how much Mozzie and Neal cared about each other. If something happened to Mozzie he feared it might be one loss too many for Neal.

There was a strange tapping rustling noise at the back of the shop. Peter drew his gun quickly and waved for Neal to get back. Neal reluctantly let Peter take the lead but followed close behind. A panel in the floor appeared and slide back and a bald head appeared.

"Mozzie!" Peter exclaimed putting his gun away.

"Suit? What are you doing here?" Mozzie asked climbing up carrying a tray of two coffees in one hand and bag of food in the other.

"Can I have a hand here?" He asked holding up the coffees. Peter took them automatically. Mozzie put the bag down and the panel slid back, disappearing into the floor. He realised Neal was staring at him, not speaking.

"What?" Mozzie asked uncomfortably. Neal suddenly lunged forward and hugged his friend tightly to him. Mozzie was totally taken aback by the attention. He was not a touchy feely person and Neal always respected that. Mozzie felt Neal tremble as he hugged him and allowed the hug, awkwardly patting him on the shoulder until Neal finally let him go, only to have Peter clap him on the shoulder and smile at them both. When a Fed was pleased to see you it couldn't be a good sign.

"What's going on?" Mozzie asked confused.

Mozzie had no idea what had happened or that the safe house had been compromised, he had left only a few minutes after Neal the previous night.

"You couldn't expect me to stay here all night, with two Feds sitting outside." Mozzie explained as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Mozzie had used his secret exit so as not to disturb the Feds. It went underground through the basement and into the sewers and came out a street away. He had decided to come back this morning to keep his secret exit secret planning to be back inside before the Feds realised he had gone. He paled when he heard what had happened to the men outside and how close he and Neal had come to disaster.

"You didn't answer your phone." Neal said accusingly.

"I thought some distance would be a good idea after our disagreement" Mozzie admitted.

"I'm sorry." Neal told Mozzie, as they shared the coffee and pastries Mozzie had bought.

Mozzie shrugged and handed Neal the coffee cup uncomfortable talking in front of 'the Suit'. Peter might be one of the okay ones but he was still a Fed.

"Does this mean I'm forgiven?" Neal asked

"Nothing to forgive, mon frère" Mozzie told him. They sat in companionable silence sipping coffee and eating the pastries for a few minutes.

"How do you think she found this place?" Neal asked the other two.

"A leak at the FBI." Mozzie guessed.

"No way." Peter told Mozzie firmly. Both Neal and Mozzie gave him a disbelieving look.

"Right, because that never happens." Mozzie said sarcastically.

"They might have tailed one of us." Neal pointed out.

"I was careful!" Mozzie exclaimed.

"So was I." Neal told them a little defensively.

"She knows I'm involved with the FBI, it's possible the picked up the agents at the office and tailed them here." Neal speculated "but it was a pretty risky move shooting federal agents just to take us out."

"Do you think Sarah told her about your offer? Trying to turn her daughter against her, take away her granddaughter, that might have been enough motivation." Peter pointed out. Neal shook his head but more in denial than because he didn't believed it. Neal didn't think Sarah would have betrayed him, but of course it was possible she had chosen her mother.

"So what now?" Mozzie asked the other two.

"Do you have any surveillance on this place?" Neal asked Mozzie, knowing the answer but also knowing Mozzie would appreciate showing off.

"Do one legged ducks swim in circles?" Mozzie told him with a dismissive look and showed them the hidden television screen hidden away in the fridge. The cameras had captured a car pulling up outside and they watched in silence as them men shot up the FBI van and then came inside. It was possible to make out the face of one of Michelle's henchman.

"We've got them." Peter said with satisfaction as Mozzie made him a copy of the footage.

"It's not enough to get Michelle though and I doubt he'll talk." Neal pointed out.

"and without more evidence she'll walk and can carry on her scams." Peter agreed morosely.

Neal gave a somewhat evil grin. Both Mozzie and Peter recognised the expression and both felt a mixture of fear and anticipation. Peter was relieved to see the old Neal back.

"I know how we can take her down." Neal told them.


	10. Chapter 10

**White Collar Medium Exchange Chapter 10**

The plan was complicated, as Neal's plans always were, but if it worked it would mean they would shut Michelle Morgan down on all fronts.

First, thanks to Mozzie's footage they were able to get warrants to place phone taps and surveillance on all of Michelle's properties. With a shooting of one of their own the whole White Collar department was on board with catching the bad guys. Everyone was sifting through every paper available on Michelle Morgan and her men. Neal and Mozzie sifted through hours of surveillance tapes and thousands of pages of reports putting together the information they needed

Neal took satisfaction that Michelle was furious that Sarah and Mary had disappeared. Peter managed to talk his bosses into holding off arresting Michelle's men until they were ready, convincing them that if they waited they would get their boss.

It was late one evening, about four days in when Diana brought them the final piece of the puzzle. Everyone was getting tired, apart from Neal who seemed to have totally recovered from his 'car accident' and was keeping them all going with his infectious energy, being first in the office and last out and making his usual jokes and comments during the regular update meetings.

"Ruiz came through with the Chicago files" Diana told them putting the files she was holding on the table. She logged onto her laptop and brought some files up on the screen of Sarah Morgan looking several years younger, with a young man stood next to her with his arm around her shoulder. Neal could see Mary had inherited her father's brown eyes.

Diana explained that Tony Brooks and Sarah had been in a relationship for about 18 months prior to Mary's birth. Six month after she was born his body was found in an alley near to his apartment. The lead investigator suspected Morgan's man Sebastian, because a witness placed him at the apartment, but a few days later he withdrew his statement. The investigator noted that the witness seemed scared, believed that Michelle Morgan had got to her. There wasn't enough evidence to prosecute. Both Michelle, Sebastian and Sarah were interviewed and Diana had the tapes.

"Sebastian. He's he way." Neal told Peter confidently after watching the tapes.

Neal gathered everything he needed together to prepare and he and Peter took it back to the Mozzie's new safe house, careful to double back several times on the way. Only he, Mozzie and Peter knew the address and this was the first time Neal and Peter were going there. Neal had been spending the last few nights at the office to be safe. Peter would have preferred to have Mozzie there too but he flatly refused to set foot in the FBI offices.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Mozzie asked Neal who nodded.

"Because the only reason I agreed to be the front man before was because you asked me to…" Mozzie started

"Since when did you want to work for the FBI?" Neal interrupted, looking Mozzie in the eye firmly and then giving a meaningful glancing at Peter, to tell Mozzie not to say any more in front of him. Fortunately Peter was focused on the papers in front of him, apparently only half paying attention to their conversation.

"They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom." Neal told Mozzie, making him smile.

"Confucious" Mozzie acknowledged.

"Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine." Mozzie counter quoted, making both of them laugh.

"So are you ready?" Peter asked. He already had misgivings about this operation. Whatever had led to Neal's argument with Mozzie, his injuries from the car accident made Peter uneasy. Michelle Morgan didn't have any scruples about arranging for people to be murdered. On the other hand that was all the more reason to make sure they got her off the streets and Neal was the best at what he did. Peter trusted him to get the job done and he and the rest of the team would be there to back him up.

Neal looked at Peter pretending to be insulted.

"Of course I'm ready." Neal told him.

Once Peter had left for the evening, Neal knew Mozzie wasn't going to leave it alone.

"Neal, Our close brush with death doesn't mean I have forgotten our aborted conversation yesterday." Mozzie sipping from his wine glass. All of Mozzie's safe houses came equipped with a decent wine selection as he considered it a necessity.

Neal sighed and poured himself a glass too.

"When I was young I got into magic tricks, slight of hand, that sort of thing." Neal started to explain."

"The con man primer" Mozzie nodded.

"I was short on money, someone showed me how I could use my magic skills to pretend to be a psychic." Neal explained

"There's a lot more money in psychics than in magic trick.s" Mozzie agreed.

"We cleaned up for a while. Things were good until I saw the effect it was having on one of our 'clients'. She was like June's friend Lisa. She had lost her husband. She couldn't bear to lose him. She wanted to speak to him again so badly she sought out every psychic she could find, she would have seen me every day if she could. She lost her job, then her house. She couldn't afford to eat but she would still pay to come see me." Neal told Mozzie then fell silent thinking of the past.

"What happened?" Mozzie asked with trepidation.

"I told her the truth. That I wasn't a psychic, that it was all a scam. I gave her back all the money I had." Neal said.

"Well, that's good right?" Mozzie.

"She was angry, she said just because I was a fake didn't mean all psychics were fakes. She just went and spent the money with other psychics. I heard she died not long afterwards." Neal told him bleakly.

"It wasn't your fault she died." Mozzie told Neal. "You made things right, you told her the truth."

Neal shrugged.

"I didn't help her, but at least I can shut Michelle Morgan down, make up for it." Neal told him.

Mozzie lifted his glass to Neal's

"right actions in the future are the best apologies for bad actions in the past." He toasted

They clinked glasses and finished the wine before going over the plan one more time.


	11. Chapter 11

**White Collar – Medium Exchange – Chapter 11**

First, they started with Michelle's apartment. They wired it so that the lights would flicker intermittently. Second they made loud noises in the walls and ceilings at night. They played with the air conditioning so that a cold draft would blow across the room at certain times of the day.

They heard Michelle and Sebastian reacting to these things. As expected Michelle dismissed them as natural occurrences, while Sebastian was more easily spooked.

Then, with Mozzie's help, they took things up a notch. They got footage of the Agent that was killed and Mary's father Tony and projected images into the apartment when Sebasian was on his own. Just quick flashes so he would see the images for a second or two. Just enough to spook him. Predictably Sebastian freaked out and wanted to move out of the apartment. He and Michelle argued and she slapped him, telling him to pull himself together. When she left the apartment to do some readings and follow up on leads to Sarah and Mary, she told him to stay there and pull himself together.

It was time for Neal to make his move. Peter had taken all the precautions he could to keep Neal safe, he and the team were outside and they would have ears on Neal the whole time through the audio monitoring watch he would be wearing. Even so, this would be more dangerous than Peter liked.

"We'll be right outside. If things aren't going right, just say the word and we'll be there." Peter told Neal who nodded impatiently.

"I'll be fine Peter." Neal reassured him. He was touched by Peter's concern but impatient to get this done.

Sebastian opened the door when Neal knocked. He reached for his gun when he saw Neal and kept it trained on him.

"I'm here to help you." Neal told him coming into the apartment keeping his hands visible as Sebastian kept the gun trained on him.

"What are you talking about." Sebastian asked distrustfully looking out into the corridor to check Neal was alone.

"You found out I was a consultant with to the FBI right?" Neal asked. "Well I'm a psychic consultant and you are in serious danger, Michelle is going to kill you." He told Sebastian who looked at him uncertainly.

"She's done it before. You remember Sarah's boyfriend Tony? Michelle asked him to prove himself to her by taking out a local competitor. Tony did it but then, when Mary was born, he started wanting out of the life. Michelle wasn't going to risk him taking Sarah and Mary away. She had you take out Tony as your initiation." Neal told Sebastian.

"How do you know that?" Sebastian asked.

"Tony told me. He's here right now." Neal told Sebastian looking over Sebastian's shoulder as if seeing someone standing right behind him. The air conditioning chose that moment to spit out the cold air. Sebastian gasped and looked behind him holding his gun up, but of course there was nothing there.

"He's angry with you, but I think I can convince him it's Michelle who deserves his anger more, especially as she's planning to do the same thing to you. You screwed up the hit on me and now she needs you out of the picture, Sever any ties to her. She is out organizing it right now." Neal told Sebastian who was looking pretty shaken. He still had the gun in his hand but it was pointed at the floor now.

Neal's phone pinged. He glanced at it.

"Michelle is on her way back" the text message said. That meant they would have to speed this up.

"There's someone else here as well, another angry spirit." Neal told Sebastian.

"It's that Fed I shot, I saw him." Sebastian told Neal, who almost laughed at how easy this was. Confession one in place.

"No, he says he's your father. He says he is sorry Seb, sorry that you have inherited your poor health from him, together with his temper. He wishes he had treated you better. What he is most sorry about it that he taught you better than to work for a woman." Neal told the man, rubbing his head and looking up as if listening to silent voices.

Neal is silent. Sometimes it's better to let people talk themselves into the con. Tell them what they want to hear, what they really believe in their hearts.

The lock on the door clicked and Michelle came in.

"What's going on here?" Michelle demanded, looking from Neal to Sebastian.

Neal kept quiet. Letting things play out.

"He's come here to warn me about you. He's a psychic for the FBI, that's how they were a step ahead of us, why they weren't at that safe house like you told us. He's been telling me about how you are planning to have me killed, just like how you had me kill Tony." Sebastian told her.

That was confession two, tying Michelle to the murder of Tony, Neal thought. Halfway there.

"Don't be ridiculous." Michelle told Sebastian angrily. "There's no such thing as psychic powers." She told him. That was three, Neal thought with satisfaction, she had admitted she wasn't psychic.

"Baby, I wouldn't ever you." Michelle told Sebastian going up to him and looking at him seductively. He looked torn.

"I can prove what I am saying is true. The spirits say there is evidence in this room that Michelle was planning to kill you. An envelope, with proof in it. Your photo and the payment for the hit in it. It's in her bag" Neal told Sebastian. "Take a look for yourself." He suggested.

Sebastian snatched the bag off Michelle, waving them both back with the gun. Michelle looked puzzled, since as far as she was aware there was no such thing in there.

Sebastian opened the bag and pulled out the sealed envelope Mozzie had planted when Michelle left earlier. Sebastian opened the envelope and to find his picture and the money, just as Neal had told him. He raised the gun to aim at Michelle.

"What the fuck is this Michelle? He was telling the truth. You put a hit on me?" Sebastian demanded angrily mainly pointing the gun at Michelle now.

"What are you talking about you idiot. Don't waive that thing at me. " Michelle told Sebastian "Just take him somewhere deserted and shoot him, like you were meant to a week ago" She ordered pointing a shaky red manicured fingernail at Neal.

That was two, Neal thought she had just admitted she at least knew about the hit.

"It's a plant" Michelle told him. "This is all a set up. We have to get out of here" Michelle told Sebastian urgently.

"What about those FBI Agents. They aren't going to just let killing their agent go." Sebastian asked.

"It's fine. There's nothing to tie it to us." Michelle told him, but it wasn't convincing and Neal saw Sebastian look at the gun in his hand. Neal couldn't believe he was stupid and arrogant enough to keep the murder weapon but it would be extra evidence if so.

"She's lying." Neal told Sebastian, though it was almost unnecessary at this point. One of Mozzie's quotes popped into Neal's head – 'those that trust no one are apt not to be trusted'. Sebastian took the envelope back from Michelle and keeping the gun trained in her moved to the door.

"I'm leaving and if anyone comes after me, I'm coming after you, but not until I've come after Sarah and little Mary." He threatened her. He left, putting the gun away as he exited the apartment, leaving Michelle and Neal alone. He figured there was probably about 60 seconds at most before the team came storming in to arrest Michelle. Michelle went over to the table and retrieved her handbag and pulled out a gun of her own then she turned on the television loud.

"If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself" She told him aiming the gun.

60 seconds suddenly seemed a very long time.

"You shouldn't have killed those FBI agents. It was a mistake." Neal told her.

"No, the mistake was not killing you the first night I met you, which I am about to rectify." She told him, flicking through the channels finding a Cop show where a shoot-out was happening and turning up the sound

"That would be another mistake." Neal told her. If he sounded a little nervous he hoped no one noticed. He had pushed Michelle hard, there was every chance she might shoot him, witnesses nearby or not. He hoped Peter and the others were on their way.

"The FBI are right outside, they've been listening to everything we say and they will arrest you." Neal told having to raise his voice to be heard over the TV. Michelle smiled nastily.

"Your ghost friends tell you that? Tell them I said hello" she told him raising the gun. Neal held his breath, there was a loud bang, he dived across the room hoping he wasn't hit. He realised it wasn't the gun but the sound of the door being kicked in.

"FBI Freeze!" Came the clarion call as the team stormed in.

Michelle quickly surrendered once it was clear the choice was surrender or be shot.

Peter came in behind SWAT looking for Neal. Smiling in relief when he saw he was unharmed.

"Did we get it?" Neal asked as Peter helped him up.

"Every word. Michelle will be going away for a long time and thanks to her admission of not having psychic powers we should be able to return all the money she took too. Plus the weapon on Sebastian is the same model as the one used to shoot my agents, we've sent it off to ballistics to see if we can get an exact match." Peter told Neal with satisfaction.

They both watched with pleasure as Jones handcuffed Michelle, read her rights to her and marched her off to the offices for interview.

"How did you know about Sebastian's father, that wasn't in the files?" Peter asked. Neal smiled slightly

"I'm psychic." Neal told Peter straight faced, walking out ahead the apartment ahead of Peter before he gave himself away by laughing.

"No, Really, how?" he heard Peter calling after him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

June held a party to celebrate Michelle Morgan's arrest and her and Neal's safe return to the home.

"It's good to be home." Neal told her clinking his wine glass to hers, as they watched Peter and Mozzie having a friendly argument about the Department of Defence's experimentation into mind control via Twitter and Elizabeth trying to mediate.

"I won't argue with that." June told him taking his arm and steering him out onto the balcony for a more private conversation.

"Neal, I just want to thank you. I'm didn't mean to put you and Mozzie in such danger." June told him, he tried to interrupt reassure her that it was nothing but she put a hand up to stop him.

"Please, forgive me." She asked. Neal gave her arm a squeeze and smiled

"June, there's nothing to forgive and for all that I owe you, this was just a tiny repayment." He reassured her smiling reassuringly. She gave him a slightly worried smile back but before they could say any more they were called by the others, both Mozzie and Peter seeking Neal's back up on their side of the argument. June went back inside. Neal hesitated for a second glancing up at the night sky and appreciating what he had right here and now. He might not be psychic but on nights like this he sensed it might be sensible to give thanks to someone up there – just in case.


End file.
